Scanner devices, such as flatbed scanners, are well-known in the art and produce machine-readable image data signals that are representative of a scanned object, such as a photograph or a page of printed text. In a typical scanner application, the image data signals produced by a flat bed scanner 11 (FIG. 1) may be used by a personal computer (not shown) to reproduce an image of the scanned object on a suitable display device (not shown), such as CRT or a printer.
A typical flatbed scanner 11 comprise a scanner housing 13 suitable for holding the various systems and components of the flatbed scanner 11. In a common configuration, the scanner housing 13 may comprise a generally rectangularly shaped structure having a top side 15 and a bottom side 17 that are positioned in a generally parallel, spaced-apart relation to one another. The top side 15 of scanner housing 13 may include a generally rectangularly shaped scanning bed or transparent platen 19 provided thereon having a length 25 and a width 27. The scanning bed 19 allows an object positioned adjacent the scanning bed 19 to be scanned by a scanning device (not shown) contained within the housing 13.
The scanner housing 13 may be further provided with a control panel 21 operatively associated with the flatbed scanner 11. A scanner lid 23 may be pivotally attached to the housing 13 via a hinge member 29. The hinge member 29 allows the scanner lid 23 to rotate about a pivot axis 31 between an opened position and a closed position.
The flatbed scanner 11 may further include illumination and optical systems (not shown) positioned within the housing 13 underneath the scanning bed 19. The illumination and optical systems accomplish the scanning of the object. The illumination system illuminates a portion of the object (commonly referred to as a “scan region”), whereas the optical system collects light reflected by the illuminated scan region and focuses a small area of the illuminated scan region (commonly referred to as a “scan line”) onto the surface of a photosensitive detector (not shown) positioned within the scanner housing 13. Image data representative of the entire object then may be obtained by sweeping the scan line across the entire object, usually by moving the illumination and optical systems with respect to the object.
By way of example, the illumination system may include a light source (e.g., a fluorescent or incandescent lamp or an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs)). The optical system may include a lens and/or mirror assembly to focus the image of the illuminated scan line onto the surface of the detector. Alternatively, a “contact image sensor” (CIS) may be used to collect and focus light from the illuminated scan region on the detector.
The photosensitive detector used to detect the image light focused thereon by the optical system may be a charge-coupled device (CCD), although other devices may be used. A typical CCD may comprise an array of individual cells or “pixels,” each of which collects or builds-up an electrical charge in response to exposure to light. Since the quantity of the accumulated electrical charge in any given cell or pixel is related to the intensity and duration of the light exposure, a CCD may be used to detect light and dark spots on an image focused thereon.
Flatbed scanners and the various components thereof are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,040,572 for NOTEBOOK STYLED SCANNER of Khovaylo, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,041 for OPTICAL SCANNER of David Wayne Boyd; U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,144 for COLOR IMAGER UTILIZING NOVEL TRICHROMATIC BEAM SPLITTER AND PHOTOSENSOR of Kent J. Vincent; U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,268 for COLOR COMBINER AND SEPARATOR AND IMPLEMENTATIONS of Kent J. Vincent and Hans D. Neuman; U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,028 for OPTICAL SCANNER APERTURE AND LIGHT SOURCE ASSEMBLY of Boyd, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,620 for APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING COMPONENTS OF COLOR OPTICAL SCANNERS of Elder, et al., which are each hereby specifically incorporated by reference for all that is disclosed therein.
As personal computers and their peripheral devices continue to decrease in price while increasing in quality, more users find themselves with home computer systems that include scanners and high-quality color printers. Although many of the users have been informed of the ease with which creative tasks can be performed with such high-tech devices, many creative tasks are far too complex for the average user to successfully complete and enjoy. For example, if a user desires to create a customized greeting card with a computer, printer, and flatbed scanner arrangement, the user must first decide what images and/or text are to be contained in the greeting card. If the user opts to individually scan each object that is to be contained in the greeting card, the user must first scan each object with the scanner in order to create an electronic image of the object. The electronic images must then be positioned into the desired arrangement before the greeting card can be reproduced by the printer. Such a procedure typically requires extensive computer-based editing since the individual images resulting from the successive scans generally need to be sized, shaped, cut, and appropriately positioned before the desired arrangement is obtained. For many users, such editing of the electronic images quickly turns a creative endeavor into a tedious task.
One way for users to reduce the amount of image editing is to pre-arrange the objects that are to be contained in the greeting card prior to scanning. However, this procedure can be difficult in that the objects must be positioned upside-down on the scanning bed 19 in the desired arrangement. For instance, if the user places the objects face-down in a certain arrangement on the scanning bed 19, the user must peel back an edge of each object to check the alignment of that object with respect to the scanning bed 19. Unfortunately, because it is difficult to confirm correct alignment while looking at the objects upside-down, the first scan of the arrangement is often unsatisfactory. Thus, the user is forced to reposition the objects and perform another scan. Although this process may eventually yield good results, it usually does so only after several repeated attempts by the user. In the meantime, the user may have wasted considerable time and processing capacity (associated with scanning the objects and displaying the scanned image) before the desired arrangement has been scanned. As a result, this “scan, evaluate, reposition, re-scan, re-evaluate” process often results in the user being completely frustrated and disappointed. Moreover, even if the user is able to successfully position the objects on the scanning bed 19 in the desired arrangement prior to scanning, the closing of the scanner lid 23 may cause the objects to shift from that desired arrangement, again resulting in an unsatisfactory scan.
Partly in an effort to alleviate the aforementioned problems, software programs have been developed that allow users to create customized greeting cards from the images of the scanned objects. While such software programs work and are currently being used, they often remain too complex and intimidating for the average user.
All of the aforementioned problems could certainly be avoided by the user simply purchasing a greeting card from a retail store. Most retail stores, however, do not provide for the purchase of customized greeting cards. For those retail stores that do (i.e., with greeting card making kiosks), the purchaser's level of creativity when customizing the greeting card is significantly curtailed. Moreover, the retail prices for greeting cards, whether customized or not, can be rather high. In addition, a significant amount of time is required to purchase a greeting card since time must be set aside for traveling to and from the retail store, for creating or selecting the greeting card, for waiting in the check-out line, and for purchasing the card. Finally, the spontaneity that is otherwise afforded when a greeting card is created with a computer, printer, and scanner is simply not afforded when that greeting card must instead be purchased.
Consequently, a need remains for greeting card making apparatus that improves user efficiency, success rate and satisfaction. Ideally, the greeting card making apparatus would be easy to use with currently available flatbed scanner, computer, and printer devices. The greeting card making apparatus should inform the user on the proper position and orientation for the selected objects and also allow the user to observe the arrangement of the objects prior to scanning in order to avoid the need to repeatedly scan, evaluate, and reposition the objects so that they conform to the desired layout. Finally, such a greeting card making apparatus should minimize the amount of time required for computer-based editing of the scanned images.